Our History

Becoming Tampa Bay’s First Personal Injury Law Firm

Prior to 1955, personal injury victims in Pinellas County did not have many viable options. They would likely be represented by a general practice lawyer, who might not have the right experience and passion to win their case. When Guy Perenich came to Pinellas County in the early 1950s, he sought a solution to the issue.

After serving with the Navy in the Pacific Ocean, Guy Perenich graduated with honors from Notre Dame. He proceeded to Columbia Law School, one of the top three law schools in the United States in the 1950s. After transferring to George Washington School of Law, he graduated with his juris doctorate in 1952. He moved to Florida and worked as an insurance adjuster in Pinellas County. In this position, he learned about the struggles of injury victims. He saw that they struggled to receive ideal representation and recognized the area’s desperate need for a personal injury attorney. Following his passion to always help injury victims, he founded the law firm of Muscarella & Perenich in downtown Clearwater in 1955. It became one of the first in the entire Tampa Bay area to focus specifically on personal injury law. Robert Carroll joined the firm in 1966, and the name became Perenich & Carroll.

Carrying on Guy Perenich’s Legacy to Help Injured Victims

Eventually, the firm moved from downtown Clearwater to its current location and with the addition of Mark Perenich, Bryan Caulfield, Jay Avril, and Matthew Noyes, the name changed again to its current title: Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes. Mark Perenich, the son of Guy Perenich, carries on the family legacy. Every attorney in the firm works to provide stellar representation to injured victims, like Guy Perenich did in 1955. Whether local citizens remember the firm as Perenich & Carroll or even Muscarella & Perenich, the name is often associated with passionate, hardworking attorneys who will fight for their clients.

1955

The first McDonald’s Restaurant is erected.
Coca-Cola starts selling in bottles.
Guy Perenich opens the law firm now known as Perenich, Caulfield, Avril & Noyes, P.A.